Veneer-drier.



C. A. HAAS.

VENEER DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25. 1911 9983.775 Patented May 30,1911.

3 SHEETS-"SHEET 1.

C. A. HAAS.

VENEER DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25. 1911,

Patented May 30, 1911.

IN VENI'OIE.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNES SE8 C. A. HAAS.

VENEER DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25. 1911v Patented May 30, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A T'I'OHNE .Y.

CYRUS A. HMS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

VENEER-DRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 25, 1911.

Patented May 30, 1911.

Serial No. 610,833.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CYRUS A. HAAS, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Veneer-Driers, of which the followin is a full, clear, and exact description, re erence being had to the accompanying drawings,

forming a part hereof.

My lnvention has relation to improve ments in veneer driers; and it consists in the novelconstruction of a paratus more fully set forth in the speci cation and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, broken between the ends of the drying chamber or casing; Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a top plan of one end of the same; Fi 4 is a side elevation of one end of the drier, parts being removed to expose the gearing; Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section on the broken line 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross-section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is an end view of ,Fig. 8; Fig. 8 is an elevation of one end of the veneer-advancirig or feed-roller, parts being broken; Fig. 9 is a side view of the terminal sliding bearing which supports the spindle of the roller; and Fig. 10 1s a face view of said bearing.

The object of my invention is to construct a veneer-drying apparatus which will ad vance or feed the sheets of veneer through a drying chamber or casing by means of series 0' rollers between which the sheets are uided as they travel through said cham er, the weights of the rollers being such as not to interfere with the freedom of shrinkage of the veneer while'drying, and yet being suflicient to prevent undue warping of the material.

A further object is to provide means for the free vertical play of the rollers to accommodate the veneer sheets fed between them, without a disengagement of the gear ing with which the ends of the rollers are identified.

A further object is to construct the rollers with a view of securing the most effective feed, and to provide further and other struc-. tural features the advantages of which will be best apparent from a detailed description of the invention, which is as follows Referrin to the drawings, G represents a casing or chamber of convenient height and width, and of any suitable length, said casing being built in any mechanical manner but preferably of wood or metal studding, one side wall of the chamber being covered with an inner permanent sheet metal layera protected with an outer asbestos layer 2) (Fig. 6), the opposite side bein provided with a similar sheet metal wall a from which is suitably spaced an outer removable asbestos wall or section b, the base of the latter being protected by an angle-bar 1, and the upper portion being held in place by rotatable latches 2. latches 2 to a horizontal position, the section 6' may be removed so that access can be had to the wall-layer a. when occasion re uires.

isposed longitudinall along the side of the chamber C above t e bottom thereof,

and adjacent to the layer b, and supported on brackets 3, is a drive-shaft 4 terminating in a gear-wheel 5, which may mesh with the gearing of any suitable motor or other source of power (not shown). Disposed at intervals along said shaft are a series of bevel pinions 6 which mesh with corresponding bevel pinions 7 at the adjacent ends of the series of relatively fixed bottom feed rollers 8 mounted in bearings 9, 9, above the floor of the casing, the pinion 7 being secured to the spindle 10 of said roller, the opposite spindle 10' carryin a gear wheel or pinion 11 inside the wall a (Fig. 5). Since the pinions 7 are all enga ed by the pinions 6 from the same side Fig. 1) it follows that all the fixed bottom rollers 8 will rotate simultaneously in the same di- By turning the a rection with any given rotation of the placement by the side wings 14 which lap over the opposite edges of the said slot. The ends of thepipes 8 which carry the s indles 12 (Fig. 8) are closed by cupsiiaped lugs 15 over the peripheral walls of which t e pipe is slipped, the plug being.

metal filling said indentations and thus making practically a one-piece member of the two. Formed with the plug 15 around the hub 15 thereof'is the pinion 11, the pinions 11 of the rollers 8 of any set meshing with one another, the bottom pinion ll meshingwith the pinion 11 of the bottom fixed roller 8. The teeth of the rollers 8 extend radially and sufficiently beyond the periphery of the pipe comprising the body of the roller, that even with a maximum thickness of a sheet of veneer inserted between two contiguous rollers, the teeth of their pinions will remain in mesh so that rotation from one roller may be imparted to the coacting roller. The connect-ion be tween the roller 8' and its pinion 11 as described is considered eminently practical, and so faras' I am aware, is new.

As shown in the drawings, the casing C is preferably raised above the ground by props or standards P, this allowing for the free accommodation of the bottom hot air inlet pipe H, andthe-bottom outlet pipe E, the casing being tapped at the top opposite the pipe H, with a similar hot air inlet pipe H and opposite the pipe E, by an, outlet or discharge pipe E, said pipes H, H, leading from any suitable source of hot air supply (not shown). Both sets of pipes H,-H', E, E, are disposed on the longitudinal center of the casing, the-pipes H, H, being at one end, and the pipes E, E, being at the opposite end.

Mounted at each end of the casing on frame work 20, and positioned so as to permit the feeding of the veneer '0 into the race-way (between the rollers) through which it shall travel in the chamber are corrugated sheet metal ledges or platforms 21, the veneer being initially deposited on the platform and shoved into the chamber. The outer portions of the platforms 21 are staggered, the second from the top projecting beyond those above and below it, and the bottom shelf or platform projecting beyond those above it. This arrangement facilitates the handling of the sheets of veneer, which are inserted at one end over the top and third shelf or platform, and at the other end over the second from the top, and bottom shelf, the sheets traveling'in opposite directions to reach their respective shelves, and as a rule making two runs through the chamber before the necessary quantity of moisture has been expelled therefrom, or before they are thoroughly dried.

It will be seen from the foregoing that thefeed mechanism' com rises a series of sets ofrollers, each set being composed of a number of vertically superposed rollers which (with the exception of the bottom roller 8) yield vertically to admit of the insertion of the veneer between the rollers of any coacting pair and its travel through the drying chamber.

ing to that of a corresponding roller of an adjacent set, there will be formed between the members of corresponding pairs 'of rollers of the consecutive sets, a race-Way for the free travel of the veneer sheets.-

The weights of the rollers are such that while they sufiice to hold the veneer against warping while drying, they accord it perfeet freedom to shrink so that no splitting follows from the treatment. sheets may be treated in the race-ways formed between the three top rollers, while thicker sheets (which can better support a greater weight of piping 8) may be treated in the race-ways formed between the three bottom rollers of the successive sets. In this way different thicknesses of veneer may be treated in the same machine. For woods which can support considerable weight, thin veneer cut therefrom may be run through any of the race-ways without disastrous make room for the veneer sheets are accorded the necessary play by the slots 8, s,- 'as obvious, though the members of any coacting pair are never separated suflicicntly to disengage the gears 11, 11, or 11, 11. In their vertical movements the ends of the rollers 8 opposite the gears 11 rub against the sheet metal layer a of the casing wall,

the metal contacting surfaces reducing the friction to a mimmum. The hot air enters from opposite directions through the pipes H, H, and the moisture laden air resulting from the drying operation escapes through the discharge mains E, E, the disposition of the pipes H, H, being such that the hot air strikes the veneer from top and bottom, working toward the center, whence it circulates toward the exit flues E,E',filling the chamber 0 in such circulation and effectively drying the veneer. For some purposes asingle run through the casing'may sufiice, for example in treating veneer forbutter dishes which does not require perfect drying. As the rollers 8 rotate in their bearings '13, thelatter play up and down in theslots s as obvious from the drawings.

Any length of drying chamber may be employed, though in practice chambers ranging from thirty to one hundred feet give excellent results for the majorityof material treated.

By veneer of course, is meant thin lumber ranging from say one-quarter or one-eighth of an inch in thickness to any below that, one sixty-fourth of an inch being perhaps as thin as is generally employed in practice.

Since a roller of any set occupies a vertical position correspond- The thinner ineans for One roller being positively driven by its neighbor, it follows that there canben'o slipping between the rollers andveneer, thus insuring a positive advance for the material treated, at a uniform rate of speed.

Having described my invention, what I claim is I 1. A veneer drier comprising a chamber open to the traverse of hot-air currents, a series of successive sets of rollers disposed throughout said chamber between opposite walls of the same, each set comprising a bottom fixed member and a number of superposed yielding members geared together, and to the fixed member, the ends of the chamber being open to permit feeding of the material between the members, and means for imparting Simultaneous rotation to the bottom roller members at the same rate of speed.

2. A veneer drier comprising a chamber open to the traverse of hot-air currents, a series of successive sets of rollers disposed throughout said chamber between opposite walls of the same, each set comprising a bottom fixed member and superposed yielding members geared thereto, and a driveshaft geared to the bottom fixed members.

3. A veneer drier comprising-a chamber, introducing hot-air thereinto through the top and bottom of the chamber at one end of the latter, means for allowing for the escape of the waste gaseous products through the top and bottom'of the opposite end of the chamber, a series of successive sets of feed-rollers disposed throughout the chamber between the sides thereof, each set comprising a bottom fixed roller terminating at one end in a bevel pinion and in a ear at the opposite end, and a number of superposed yielding rollers terminating at one end in gears meshing with one another, the gears of the lowest members of the yielding rollers meshing with the gears of the bottom fixed members, a longitudinally disposed drive-shaft provided with bevel pinions meshing with'the bevel pinions of the fixed rollers, spindles for the yielding rollers projecting beyond the roller ends, bearings for the spindles, the o posite walls of the chamber being provide with suitable slots to allow for the vertical play of the bearings aforesaid and of the opposite ends of the rollers, and suitable shelvmg at the ends of the casing for directing the veneer sheets between the terminal rollers of the series, any pair of one set receiving the veneer advanced from a corresponding pair of an adjacent set.

l. In combination with a veneer-drying chamber having opposite vertically slotted walls, hollow or tubular rollers having one end mounted yieldingly in the slots of one of the walls, a cup-shaped plug closing the opposite end of the passage of each tube, a

spindle carried by and projecting beyond the plug, a bearing for the spindle projecting through the slot of the opposite chamber wall, wing formations on the bearings lapping the edges of the slots, gears formed with the plugs and disposed about the axes of the spindles thereof, the casing being provided with a metal wall section serving as an abutment for the ends of the rollers opposite the spindles.

5. In combination with a veneer-drying chambei' provided with a fixed side wall, an inner metal layer and an outer superposed heat-non-conducting layer secured to said wall, a metal wall section: on the opposite side of the casing, an outer heat noncon ducting removable wall section spaced from the metal section, the metal sections and opposite side wall of the casing being provided with vertical slots, feed-rollers mounted between the side walls of the chamber, one end of each roller playing in the slot receiving the same, a spindle projecting from one end of the roller, a bearing for the spindle playing in the slot of the metal section aforesaid and projecting into the space between said section and the outer removable heat non-conducting section, gears cast about the spindles and confined within the chamber on the inside of the metal wall section, wings on the .bearingslapping the edges of the slots in the metal wall section, and bearing against the inner surface of said section, the gears of the several rollers being in mesh with one another, a bottom fixed roller geared to the yielding rollers, and a drive-shaft located outside the cham-. her for imparting rotation. to the fixed rollers.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CYRUS A. HAAS.

Witnesses:

Earn. STAREK, FANNIE E. /VEnnR. 

